Official Home Gym Building Thread

Has anyone had to flatten/smooth a garage floor before putting a gym in? Mine is extremely uneven, but it seems like it'll be expensive to have it ground down or resurfaced etc.

Thinking of just putting horse mats over the top, then making a thick 8'x8' OSB/plywood platform to place rack and all other gym gear on...
 
LiE said:
Could you not just put some self levelling compound down ?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure it would be up to the task; the floor is really bad (sloping in places, I would guess up to 5cm from highest to lowest points with cracks, holes, whole areas missing). I'll have a look around and see if I can find a compound specc'ed to that depth
 
I don't think mats alone would sort that out... mine is pretty level and even then there were a few spots where it surprised me that it wasn't quite as level as I thought and you can tell as you're laying the mats
 
Well, finally decided to just go for it and dropped a ton of cash on some essential home gym stuff. Been making my way through lockdown with bands and DB work for a few months now and just getting sick of the lack of compound movements. Never feel taxed after a workout.

Got pretty much everything (Plates, Barbell, flooring etc) for just under £500 but could really do with a plate tree and a decent bench as mines started to gull wing slightly at adjustment point near the seat, absolutely do not trust it to take serious weight.

What are people opinions on the adjustable DB sets? Not sure what they're officially called but they're not spinlock, more like you load the entire DB into some sort of rack and physically dial in the weight you want? Don't have room for a proper rack sadly and this seems the only real alternative that isn't a massive pain like the spinlock options.
 
DrToffnar said:
What are people opinions on the adjustable DB sets? Not sure what they're officially called but they're not spinlock, more like you load the entire DB into some sort of rack and physically dial in the weight you want? Don't have room for a proper rack sadly and this seems the only real alternative that isn't a massive pain like the spinlock options.
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I think they seem okay, only negative I seemed to ever read about the "Bowflex" ones was that they are quite long (as they are the same length regardless of the weight added, and need to be long to allow for all the different sections) - which makes them a bit weird to use for certain exercises...

For what it's worth when I picked up a bench from FB Marketplace the chap selling it also sold me a pair of Olympic dumbells - i.e. dumbell handles with Olympic sleeves, and I use those with a set of collars which makes changing the weights quite easy. Presently I only have a few smaller hex plates which fit and are all either 2.5kg or 5.0kg which doesn't allow me very fine adjustment, but I'm planning to buy a couple of sets of change plates in smaller increments that I can use with my main barbell or also for these dumbells. These are the ones I have (the "short" handled ones):

https://mirafit.co.uk/mirafit-m3-olympic-dumbbell-bars.html
 
uncle_rufus said:
I think they seem okay, only negative I seemed to ever read about the "Bowflex" ones was that they are quite long (as they are the same length regardless of the weight added, and need to be long to allow for all the different sections) - which makes them a bit weird to use for certain exercises...

For what it's worth when I picked up a bench from FB Marketplace the chap selling it also sold me a pair of Olympic dumbells - i.e. dumbell handles with Olympic sleeves, and I use those with a set of collars which makes changing the weights quite easy. Presently I only have a few smaller hex plates which fit and are all either 2.5kg or 5.0kg which doesn't allow me very fine adjustment, but I'm planning to buy a couple of sets of change plates in smaller increments that I can use with my main barbell or also for these dumbells. These are the ones I have (the "short" handled ones):

https://mirafit.co.uk/mirafit-m3-olympic-dumbbell-bars.html
Click to expand...

Don't know why it didn't occur to me to just look into plate loaded ones with a decent collar... would save me about £400... Cheers!

My only concern with those types of collars is how well they'd hold past a certain weight. I do a lot of overhead triceps extensions and wouldn't want 10kg sliding of one side onto my bonce...
 
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I get what you mean and I had the same thought - so far they seem pretty solid and I'm not worried. The bars themselves weight about 5kg and I've had them loaded with 2x2.5kg plates on each side to give me 15kg with no indication of the collars slipping at all (and happily doing skullcrushers and such - hoping not to tempt fate here!)
 
Everything coming today! Have to say Fitness Superstore have been pretty great. Gave me a decent NHS discount, comms have been great when I've had questions and it's only taken 3 working days to get everything to me. Looking forward to getting home and finding out I don't have enough height to do OHP in the conservatory :rolleyes:
 
Whacked it all together last night. It's not much and there's still things I need (DB bars, weight tree, a new bench and a few more plates) but it feels so good to just have the essentials right there whenever I want them!

Have to say that the joining on the Mirafit squat rack isn't the best I've ever seen... certainly wouldn't trust it with any considerable weight on there. Rocks something awful when you re-rack the weight too. Anyone got any solutions as to how to counter it that doesn't involve bolting it to the ground? Got a few plates on the legs at the mo but would like to think that won't be a permanent solution.
 
DrToffnar said:
Whacked it all together last night. It's not much and there's still things I need (DB bars, weight tree, a new bench and a few more plates) but it feels so good to just have the essentials right there whenever I want them!

Have to say that the joining on the Mirafit squat rack isn't the best I've ever seen... certainly wouldn't trust it with any considerable weight on there. Rocks something awful when you re-rack the weight too. Anyone got any solutions as to how to counter it that doesn't involve bolting it to the ground? Got a few plates on the legs at the mo but would like to think that won't be a permanent solution.
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Picsssss! :)
 
A few updates to my setup.
Had the dumbbells and rack a while now. Pro-style from Fitness Superstore before they jacked the prices up (I paid £177 for the 40s and £53 for the 10s - they are now £239 and £72 respectively!)
Mirafit rack.
6gbZoqG.jpg


Mirafit safety arms just arrived. I couldn't find suitable drop-down spotters anywhere and really wanted something more convenient for removing to be able to move around the rack a bit better.
Really nicely made.
Just quickly tested out the height for benching and seem to be a smidgeon higher than the pins in the same hole, so still not perfect but will work.
RBxdBKk.jpg

Very pleased with this next acquisition - Bodycraft F431 200lb selectorised lat/low row attachment.
Picked it up locally for a little over £300 in as-new condition.
This is the proof of concept that it fits - at the moment only attached by one bolt top and bottom. Need to decide what to do to get it more secure - the holes in the rack are slightly narrower spaced but it doesn't look like they are narrow enough to drill new holes to match the lat/row while avoiding the current holes. Easiest solution is to leave as-is and only drill holes for one bolt top and bottom. That would make it secure but puts it very slightly off-centre by approximately 1/2 - 1 inch. Can't see that being an issue tbh - will just need to mark a centre line on the upper/lower crossmembers to use for setting up for bench.
It's very smooth.
Downside is that Mirafit have discontinued the M2 rack and the new M200 version doesn't have the same construction/dims so fewer potential customers for my old plate loaded station.
8XLKNLG.jpg

Need to get some wall storage up for bars/handles/attachments etc to get crap off the floor, and I'm still trying to work out a decent solution for storing weights that won't take up even more space.
Really need to draught-proof the garage too - so much dust!
The little heater I bought works quite well - I turn it on via smart plug about 30 minutes before going to work out and while the bars/handles are still freezing the ambient temp is bearable.
 
lowdown said:
A few updates to my setup.
Had the dumbbells and rack a while now. Pro-style from Fitness Superstore before they jacked the prices up (I paid £177 for the 40s and £53 for the 10s - they are now £239 and £72 respectively!)
Mirafit rack.
6gbZoqG.jpg


Mirafit safety arms just arrived. I couldn't find suitable drop-down spotters anywhere and really wanted something more convenient for removing to be able to move around the rack a bit better.
Really nicely made.
Just quickly tested out the height for benching and seem to be a smidgeon higher than the pins in the same hole, so still not perfect but will work.
RBxdBKk.jpg

Very pleased with this next acquisition - Bodycraft F431 200lb selectorised lat/low row attachment.
Picked it up locally for a little over £300 in as-new condition.
This is the proof of concept that it fits - at the moment only attached by one bolt top and bottom. Need to decide what to do to get it more secure - the holes in the rack are slightly narrower spaced but it doesn't look like they are narrow enough to drill new holes to match the lat/row while avoiding the current holes. Easiest solution is to leave as-is and only drill holes for one bolt top and bottom. That would make it secure but puts it very slightly off-centre by approximately 1/2 - 1 inch. Can't see that being an issue tbh - will just need to mark a centre line on the upper/lower crossmembers to use for setting up for bench.
It's very smooth.
Downside is that Mirafit have discontinued the M2 rack and the new M200 version doesn't have the same construction/dims so fewer potential customers for my old plate loaded station.
8XLKNLG.jpg

Need to get some wall storage up for bars/handles/attachments etc to get crap off the floor, and I'm still trying to work out a decent solution for storing weights that won't take up even more space.
Really need to draught-proof the garage too - so much dust!
The little heater I bought works quite well - I turn it on via smart plug about 30 minutes before going to work out and while the bars/handles are still freezing the ambient temp is bearable.
Click to expand...

@lowdown I’ve been looking for an M2 plate loadable high low pulley system, if your looking to sell drop me a message or let me know where/what your after for it
 
Any recommendations for a power rack / half rack around the £500 mark please?

Hygym looks good value for money, but delivery seems to take aaages.
 
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